Twenty Four Hours ✿ Hayes Grier

i // 12:16 pm

"we have to be back in la in two days. which gives us one day to explore this city, and another to drive back to la." nash told his unresponsive younger brother, hayes. "can you please acknowledge that you heard me instead of being an asshole?"

"i heard you. i don't want to 'explore this city', this place looks like it sucks. lets just get to la." the far-to-young-to-be-bitter boy said while typing at his phone.

"whatever. i just wanted to look around. maybe we could find something for a video." nash kept his eyes on the road while he spoke.

"i have a party tonight and i don't want to miss it."

"you're too young to be going to so many parties." nash still felt an instinct to be an older brother, even if hayes acted like he was mature enough to do things on his own.

hayes ignored his brother. he put down his phone and leaned his head against the window. his eyes dilated, something catching them.

"nash, pull over."

"what?"

"pull over! look, there's a person sitting in the street." of course, they were in a neighborhood, so the streets weren't crowded; nash's car was the only car on the road. but still, why the hell would you sit in the middle of the street?

"what the fuck?" nash craned his neck to see. hayes opened the car door.

"are you hurt?" hayes said as the person turned around. it was a girl. her face was stained with tears. her dark brown hair was matted and her green eyes were bloodshot.

"no." she wiped her nose with her sleeve. "just sitting."

"can i ask why you're sitting in the middle of the street?" hayes ran a hand through his hair.

"can i ask why you're such an ass?" she shot back, turning away from him. "i'll move, just leave me alone."

hayes contemplated leaving the girl in the street. she didn't seem to want to be bothered. but his heart did work, sometimes, and something told him maybe he should help her.

"do you... need a ride or something?" he held out a hand to help her up.

"where are you going?" she took out the earbuds that rested in her ears to get a better listen.

"la, but i can drop yo-"

"la! that's perfect. can you give me a ride to la?" she stood up and gathered the few things she had.

"you're gonna trust some guy you just met to give you a ride to somewhere six hours away?" hayes seemed surprised at how desperate this girl was to leave where she was.

"yes. if i can get away from here." she sighed, her eyes not meeting his.

"uh, why? are you leaving, i mean?" hayes asked.

"why would i tell you?" she snapped.

"jesus, what's with you." hayes muttered. "do you want a ride or not?"

instead of answering, she threw her bag over her shoulder and stood. she was a couple inches shorter than he was. most girls stood a good half foot under him, but she could almost reach his height.

"alright, i'll take that as a yes, then." he offered to help her to the car, in case she was actually hurt, but she shied away whenever he put his hand on her back. hayes usually wasn't this touchy with girls unless he 'wanted something', but he felt like she needed to be taken care of.

"nash, she needs a ride to la." hayes let the girl scoot into the backseat before he did.

"uh, okay. what's your name?"

"ava." she whispered.

"oh. cool. why are you going to la?" nash wondered, facing ava.

"nothing. there's just someone there i need to see." ava's eyes rested on her lap. strands of hair fell into her face. hayes had to resist brushing them behind her ear for her.

"you got a boyfriend in la?" nash laughed.

"no."

"you know, we are letting you hitchhike with us, the least you could do is give us some information." hayes leaned back in his seat and took a sip of his arizona.

ava didn't speak. instead she faced hayes. her eyes were very green, he noticed. they almost looked fake, but they were just green enough to the point that they didn't look artificial.

"you have blue contacts in." she said.

"huh? no, these are real. you like them?" he smirked, raising a brow.

"no, i'm just saying that they're fake."

"damn." nash muttered. "feisty. nice pick, hayes."

hayes glared. "can we just get going, please?"

nash shrugged.

"so, why are you going to la?" ava asked.

"i happen to have parties to go to and fans to meet." hayes said arrogantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"fans? has this what it's come too? teenage girls following around talentless boys?"

"i happen to have lots of fans, thankyouverymuch. and i'm not talentless. i can dance. and act."

"you sure act like a jackass." ava plugged in earphones and turned up the volume on her music.

nash tried to hide a laugh. he was unsuccessful.

hayes was speechless. never had a girl acted like this toward him. he would actually be impressed if he wasn't so pissed.

"okay, this is going to be a long car ride. can you two please figure out a way to survive it without killing each other?" nash asked.

hayes and ava agreed, indulgently. hayes still wondered the reason this girl decided to shut everyone out, and he was determined to find out why.

+

i'm so excited for this book!! sorry it's short, the chapters will get much longer and less boring :))

thanks for reading !!